Cash and Food Assistance

In partnership with the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the Olmsted County Financial Assistance Office works to help people with low incomes transition to economic stability. Economic support includes cash assistance programs, food support, child care assistance, child support services, refugee services, employment services, and health care programs.

ApplyMN is Minnesota's secure, online system you can use to apply for cash assistance, SNAP (food support), emergency help, and child care assistance programs.

To get started, visit Minnesota Human Services Online to use an online pre-screening tool find out if you might qualify for benefits and to register for a user ID and password.

If you already have a user ID and password, you can log-on to ApplyMN directly.

The SNAP Program (formerly called Food Stamp Program or Food Support) is a county-run, federal program that helps low-income households get supplemental food needed to attain sound nutrition and well-balanced meals. For more information about SNAP.

The program provides cash assistance for single adults without children, and childless married couples who are unable to work. This includes people who are elderly, ill, injured or otherwise incapacitated. For more information about GA.

MFIP provides work supports, temporary financial assistance, and food assistance (SNAP) to low income families with minor children, and low income pregnant women. The purpose of MFIP is to help families transition to economic stability. MFIP parents are expected to work and are supported in working. Most families can get cash assistance for only 60 months. Some families in Minnesota are eligible for the Diversionary Work Program (DWP). This program helps families in crisis who are new to public assistance, or have been off of assistance for at least 1 year, to move quickly to employment. For more information about MFIP and DWP.

Refugee Assistance helps refugees in making the transition to life in the United States. Services include resettlement and placement, cash and medical assistance, and employment and social services.

The Refugee Assistance Program provides federal funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement to the states for refugee assistance.

Refugees are people who have had to flee their country of origin and are unable to return because of a well-founded fear of persecution. Most refugees resettled over the last two decades have been Southeast Asians, but more recently the population has become more diverse with people from countries in strife such as Bosnia, Somalia, Sudan, Liberia, Iraq and the former Soviet Union. For more information about Refugee Assistance.

Olmsted County provides secure email boxes for members of the public to submit emails about confidential issues including, but not limited to, child and adult protection reports, criminal activity and public health concerns. Please use these secure email boxes for these types of issues. Olmsted County disclaims all liability for unauthorized use and dissemination of confidential information if members of the public submit emails about confidential issues using the regular unsecured county departmental email boxes.